Giving in to Love
by umpcai
Summary: What were her reasons for resisting anyway?


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed. Some dialogue is taken directly from the show.

**Giving in to Love**

"Cole, that was the vanquishing potion," Phoebe Halliwell told her estranged husband. He'd just destroyed the vial containing a liquid that would destroy the Siren, a vile demon killing couples across San Francisco.

Cole Turner took a deep breath and stalked toward the confused Siren. She'd thought he was dead from her song, as all mortals before him were. What the Siren didn't know was that Cole was a half- human with a load of demonic powers. Her curse didn't affect him in the way it did others. Cole planned to use this to his advantage. The Siren had lured him, and Phoebe, into her trap. And then she had tried to kill Phoebe. He would personally destroy her for that. "I know... I want her for myself."

The Siren backed up against a crypt in her chambers. She began to vanish in a wisp of gray smoke. Cole grabbed her arms, preventing the disappearance.

"Do me a favor. Make it hurt," Phoebe requested. She knew Cole wanted to protect her, and fight for the side of good. Despite her previous insistence that his demonic powers made him evil, Phoebe knew Cole had a good heart. If he didn't, his feelings for her never would have come into existence. Demons, even half ones, weren't supposed to love. But two years prior she and Cole had fallen in love and he had betrayed the side of evil for her. However, once his original powers had been stripped, the Source of All Evil had possessed Cole. Phoebe had betrayed her sisters, the other two Charmed witches, and all of good to be his evil queen. Eventually, she'd turned back and vanquished Cole, freeing him from the source. When Cole brought himself back to life, he'd taken powers from the Demonic Wasteland.

Phoebe wasn't afraid of Cole. That wasn't why she'd been begging him for a divorce. She was afraid of the pain. It had almost killed her to vanquish her husband. She thought that she and Cole had finally gotten away from the struggles they'd faced for most of their relationship. She thought they were finally going to be able to be together, forever. But, everything had gone wrong again. She couldn't give Cole another chance. She couldn't face the pain anymore. If everything was to fall apart once more, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

And then there was the guilt. Her sister Paige had known something was wrong with Cole, when he'd been possessed and Phoebe had ignored her. She'd noticed little things different about him, too, but had chalked it up to his adjusting to life without powers. She didn't want to face the possibility of another roadblock on the way to her and Cole's happily ever after. But, if she had, she wouldn't have turned on her family and everything she stood for. If she had, they may have been able to find a way to destroy the Source without killing Cole. As it was, the Source was too far embedded into Cole's being for that.

What if they got back together? What if something else possessed Cole? What if she ignored it again, ever scared of the loss of her happiness? He might not be able to survive it again. And it would be her fault. She would be responsible for killing the love of her life.

All that plus the fact that Cole had acquired other demon's former powers- ones that could potentially possess him, too, by overriding his heart in their own search for evil, made Phoebe very fearful of trying another relationship with Cole.

She remembered the look in his eyes earlier, when she'd told him to leave her home. He'd only offered to help fight the Siren. He'd only been trying to protect her. He was always only trying to protect her. That's how the source had gotten him. Because he'd taken in the Hollow to protect her.

He had obeyed her request to leave. And, the Siren had caught him. And then she'd caught Phoebe, too. Glancing at Cole glaring menacingly at the Siren now in his grasp, Phoebe thought of when she'd first entered the Siren's lair. The siren had turned to her, releasing Cole. He'd fallen back, pale and unmoving, seemingly dead. Phoebe could swear her heart had stopped beating.

As Phoebe watched, Cole quickly released the siren and motioned with his fingers. The Siren was unable to move, even without Cole's arms holding her still. He formed an energy ball in each hand. As they met with the Siren's flesh, she went up in flames.

Cole sighed and moved back. He was still a little weary because, although it couldn't kill him, the Siren's song had still packed quite a punch.

Phoebe moved toward him, concerned. She couldn't let them be together, but her love for Cole was still strong. She needed to make sure he really was alright.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. Looking up into his clear blue eyes, she asked, "You OK?"

"Fine," he shrugged off her hand, wondering why she seemed so concerned now when all she'd done just that morning was tell him that his powers made him evil. Phoebe wouldn't believe he was good, that the way he used his demonic powers made them good, too. She didn't want to be with him anymore. She didn't believe enough in their love to keep fighting for it. It hurt him. He'd fought so hard for her, even coming back from the dead, and she didn't want him. It hurt him worse then anything he'd ever felt before, including being vanquished.

But, he was determined to prove himself to her. She would see that he wasn't evil anymore.

Cole glanced down. Phoebe was still staring at him. _She probably wants an apology_, he thought. _Well, this is my fault. I don't blame her for wanting it._

"Look, Phoebe," he said. "I'm, I'm sorry abut this. Piper said you three could handle it and I didn't listen. I didn't think the siren could trap me. But she did, and it's my fault you were put in danger."

"Cole," Phoebe began. She shook her head, "I know you only wanted to help. I'm sorry I was so rude earlier."

"So, do you want me to bring you home?" Cole waved off her apology.

She slowly shook her head, looking at him intently. She could see the pain in his eyes. She knew it was in her own, too, even if Cole hadn't noticed. She was, for the thousandth time since his return, fighting a battle with her heart. She knew all the reasons why they couldn't work, why they shouldn't be together. Her mind remembered all the pain. She dreaded having to face it ever again. She dreaded being selfish and causing him unnecessary suffering ever again.

But, this time, her heart was winning the fight. Because the pain she'd been feeling recently was so much worse than what she was afraid of. It hurt her more than she wanted to admit.

As she moved closer to Cole, invading his personal space, Phoebe tried to remember the warning Paige had given her earlier. What had she said? Something about having been through all this before and not trying again, right? Paige didn't think the love Phoebe shared with Cole was worth it. But, it was wasn't it?

Phoebe told her mind to shut up. She forgot the misery and guilt. She remembered only love. Somehow, without all the other stuff crowding her brain, without her sisters advising her against it, the answer was so simple.

Phoebe stood on her toes, her arms slid around Cole's neck, she pushed herself up against him, and she brought her lips to his.

Despite his surprise, Cole wrapped his own arms around her waist and deepened the kiss.

Phoebe drew back slightly, breathless and smiling, "I love you, Cole."

Thrilled that she seemed to finally be trusting in their love again, Cole replied, "I love you, too, Phoebe."

And, he met her lips once again.

**The End**


End file.
